Love animation and reading books?

Make an animated trailer for your favourite book to win!

Following the success of Animate IT '08, Film Street the award winning*children’s filmmaking website and educational software house Kudlian Software have got together again to launch a filmmaking competition for children, Animate IT '09: To cut a long story short.  

This year they have teamed up with CBBC’s Ed Petrie to invite children under 12, primary schools and after school groups from across the UK, to make an animated trailer to promote their favourite book! Encouraging children to use their talent for animation to promote their love of reading, the competition is also supported by the National Year of Reading in England (November is Screen Reads month), and leading film marketing agency, the Picture Production Company.

Ed Petrie, CBBC presenter and Animate IT ’09 patron said ‘The great thing about animation is that it gives children a chance to experiment with filmmaking using the artistic skills they already have. I can’t wait to watch the finished trailers to see how children have used different types of animation to tell others about their favourite books’.

Aspiring young filmmakers can use any type of animation to make their trailers. The winning trailers will be shown in Film Street’s Cinema and the winning animators will win animation equipment and software from Kudlian Software, and a tour around the offices of top trailer makers, the Picture Production Company.

To make the competition accessible to as many young people as possible entrants can download a free five day trial of Kudlian’s award winning animation software I Can Animate**. Entries can be submitted by email or post on CD, DVD or video in any format by Friday 3rd April 2009.

Last year, Animate IT ’08 received over 600 entries from youngsters from across the UK. It is hoped that Animate IT ’09: To cut a long story short will provide a new creative challenge that will tempt even more young people to get creative with animation!

Ed said: ‘I am fascinated by the animation process and draw my own cartoons; I would have loved to have had the chance to get creative and enter a great competition like this when I was younger.’

Further information and full competition rules can be found at www.filmstreet.co.uk

Film Street (www.filmstreet.co.uk) was commissioned by Culture Online, part of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and was developed and is managed by First Light Movies in partnership with CBBC, UK Film Council, British Film Institute and Creative Partnerships. *Film Street has won a BIMA, a Yahoo Search Finds of the Year Award and European Learning Award. The site has been nominated for a Children’s BAFTA and more recently received a Webby Honoree Award.

Kudlian Software (www.kudlian.net) was founded in 1990 and is one of the UK's longest-established, award-winning and still-independent publishers of quality educational software for both Primary and Secondary education. ** I Can Animate is available for both PCs and Macs was a winner at the Education Resources Awards and has been nominated for a Macworld award and was short listed for the BETT Awards in 2006.

The National Year of Reading (www.yearofreading.org.uk) is a year-long celebration of reading, in all its forms. It aims to increase awareness of the many values of reading – anything, anytime, anyplace – for children, families and adult learners alike. The NYR is being managed by a consortium of organisations committed to promoting reading, led by the National Literacy Trust and The Reading Agency, and on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Based in London and Los Angeles, the Picture Production Company (www.theppc.com) is the largest film marketing agency outside of North America and has been at the forefront of the industry for over 22 years. PPC are the world’s leading international producers of trailers, television and radio commercials, as well as documentaries, promos, junkets, DVD value added material and electronic press kits.

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